Setting Up Camp

WHILLANS ICE STREAM, ANTARCTICA– The first order of business was to set up camp. First we collected all our gear at our chosen site and pitched our cook tent. This is the multi-colored, slug-shaped monster, where we spent much time eating and socializing at the beginning and end of each day. You’ll see this in a time lapse movie. One image every minute.

Lucas Beem studies the motion of ice through the use of GPS (Global Positioning System), modeling and other remote sensing instruments, including ICESat and ASTER. He is a PhD student at the University of California at Santa Cruz and is interested in unraveling the mysteries of how the conditions at the bed control the the motion of ice above it.